Watch: This Video About Women With Excess Facial Hair Is So Empowering

The overwhelming majority of women spend a lot of time, money, and energy on hair removal, whether it's on their legs, bikini line, underarms, upper lip, or eyebrows. It's a completely personal choice, and it's by no means necessary, though it's safe to say that societal beauty standards encourage (no, that's not the right word, more like demand) females have hairless skin.

Some women choose to remove all of it, others choose to remove some of it, and still others choose to leave it completely alone. For women with hirsutism, which is a condition of excessive hair growth (including facial hair), that decision is difficult, to say the least, since it can influence how other people perceive them and open them up to judgment and ridicule (however unfortunately).

Marie Claire interviewed three women with hirsutism who choose to let their facial hair grow. These women spoke about beauty standards, pressures, and confidence. Their perspectives are pretty epic. Keep scrolling to see what they had to say.

video: Marie Claire

One of the women, JD Samson, begins by saying, "I think having a mustache is a rejection and a protest of general beauty standards for women." She explains growing up and being bullied by kids in high school, just like one of the other women, Annalisa Hackleman, tells the story of how she was forced to shave. "Around the age 13, my mom pointed out to me that it looked like hair was growing on my face and it looked darker than regular peach fuzz. I was made to shave because the hair was supposedly very embarrassing."

For these women, their facial hair stems from elevated levels of testosterone, something that can result from polycystic ovary syndrome—a hormonal disorder that causes things like excessive facial hair, acne, and weight gain.

But for them, hair removal isn't as easy as shaving their face once a day. As one of the women, Alma Torres, explains, "I was shaving for 8 years, nonstop, 4 to 5 times a day. I'd carry emergency razors. I'd stay in the bathroom shaving my face for hours." This was all to stick to society's standards of "ideal" beauty.

Our favorite part of the video is when they open up about their choice to let their facial hair be. "It wasn't done overnight," Torres says, referring to her confidence, "you just have to embrace yourself and who you are." And honestly, that's the key. Whether that means committing to hair removal or going au natural. "Women who grow facial hair, or hair in general, our hair shouldn't define who we are. We just want to embrace who we've become." We commend them for making a personal choice. It's a well-needed lesson in self-love.

Head over to Marie Claire to see the full feature. What do you think about this video? Sound off in the comments below.